This book examines why Iran carries out a high number of executions and takes positions that differ markedly from much of the Western world, where the death penalty has largely been abolished. According to the UN, at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025. Seen through Western eyes, these spectacles of punishment, along with the deadly crackdown of protesters, suppression of women and ethnic minorities, brutal prisons, mandatory wearing of the Hijab, morality policing, and cruelty to animals make Iran seem an alien and barbaric society. A common-sense assumption often relegates Iran to the sphere of oppression and brutality, blames the reign of clerics, despotic leaders, or attributes it to Islam and Shariah rules. This book’s argument though is that these contemporary characteristics of Iranian society, so repulsive to most modern sensibilities, should be understood as the product of long-term cultural trends that began during the 19th century when Iran was known as Persia. They were then reinforced by Western-inspired attempts to 'civilize' and modernize the country that came to be known as Iran in the 20th century. The cumulative effects have been to bring about a central state, sensibilities, and interdependencies between citizens where there is a public tolerance of suffering and a celebration of pain — as seen most vividly in regular, public executions.

Maria Rasekh (PhD) is a researcher in sociology.